Commonly owned U.S. Pat. No. 3,973,227 discloses a coaxial cable with a low level of cross-talk, which comprises an assembly of mutually insulated conductive elements each having a diameter small enough to carry, in first approximation, an electric current evenly distributed throughout each section of the element. As disclosed in the above-mentioned patent, the inner conductor of the coaxial cable may include for example a litz wire comprising a multiplicity of intertwined strands whereas the outer conductor may comprise a plurality of litz wires arranged along the generatrices of a cylinder. As is known, the individual strands forming a litz wire are enameled so as to be electrically insulated from adjacent strands. Splicing of such a cable requires, besides peeling off the outer insulating sheath and removing a portion of insulating material located between the inner conductor and the outer conductor, a removal of the enamel from the portion of the wire strands designed to contact elements of the connector to establish good electrical contact conductive between the cable and the connector.
Removal of enamel from a portion of litz wire is usually effected by immersing the portion in question in molten tin at a temperature higher than the sublimation temperature of the enamel (.perspectiveto.400.degree. C.).
However, cleaning of a coaxial cable of the above-mentioned type cannot be effected by immersion in molten tin since, owing to the high temperature at which this operation takes place, the insulating material located between the inner conductor and the outer sheath would be damaged, which would have a detrimental effect on the electrical characteristics of the cable. Moreover, in a damaged portion of cable cross-talk phenomena would occur.
The use of pickling liquids available on the market does not provide a satisfactory solution to the aforementioned problem where the cable to be spliced is of the kind having a multistrand outer conductor in the form of a plait preventing the liquid from penetrating and impeding removal of the enamel from the strands of the inner conductor. Thus, when a cable of this type is cleaned by means of pickling liquids prior to splicing, the electrical characteristics of the resulting joint are unsatisfactory.